I sent this to the editor of the Globe and Mail but it didn’t get into the paper. This is my first letter ever to the editor.I knew something that wasn’t common knowlege here in Canada. I was responding to an article on the Faroe Islands and a paragraph about the killing of Pilot Whales.
My mother is Faroese from Vaag on Suderoe (South Island) and I have visited twice and lived there once as a small child.I’ve never seen the butchering of Pilot Whales myself but I have been told about it and I’ve eaten whale meat. Once a year usually in June the Pilot Whales come by the fjord of Vaag with the Golf Stream. They are spoted by fishermen and several boats got out to drive as many whales as possible into the fjord. The whales are beached and specific people who are trained, cut the whales throat with large sharp knives used only for this purpose. The key is a quick death and that no whales drown. The meat is divided up according to how many are in each family in the village. They have been supplementing their diet of birds,fish, mutton and potatoes with whale meat for centuries. There is no natural trees and it’s diffecult to grow vegetables or fruit except for in green houses. Butchering of whales is done humanely and they only kill what is needed. It is more humane then what we do to slaughter the animals we eat here in North America.
Later I had a conversation with my daughter in laws relatives from Sandy Bay Reserve in Manitoba. We talked about the whale hunting practices of B.C. coastal Natives and I was able to share my limited knowlege about whale hunting from the Faroe Islands. What a cool connection! The whales were our connection. I’m proud to come from such a tradition.
